In this study, we found that treatment of THP‐1 cells with higher concentrations of XPO1 inhibitors induced much lesser DNA damage at a later time compared with that in MV4‐11 cells, indicating that the level and time of DNA damage induction by XPO1 inhibitors are potential determinants of their antileukaemic activity against AML. The gene discussed is XPO1; the disease is acute myeloid leukemia.